Vol 1 Chapter 3 – ※Childhood: The Summer at Age Six

I believe everyone has a bad habit that, no matter how hard they try, just won’t go away.

In my case, it was being a bit weak-willed when it came to material desires. And when my wallet started to swell, I got way too full of myself.

“Damn it, I can’t find it!”

“Geez, where did it go, Erich?”

“And it’s only that one thing left!”

And at that very moment, I was in the midst of indulging in my notorious habit of wasteful spending.

I never imagined I’d acquire 《Stealth》, 《Sense Suppression》, and 《Silent Footsteps》 just for a game of hide-and-seek…!

No, honestly, I’m nothing but a fool—to think I’d impulsively learn a new skill in the heat of defeat.

At least these skills are versatile and never a loss, but if I’m not careful, I might end up wrecking myself. This is no joke.

All these skills are low-tier abilities in the 《Physical Arts》 category. Unlike the professional skills or traits for hunters or assassins, they’re relatively inexpensive, so I ended up buying them on a whim. I kept them at the 《Basic》 level, but the skill points I’d diligently earned from doing household chores for a week have soared, proving just how weak my self-control is.

This is a forest on the outskirts of the estate. With its vibrant early-summer green leaves and refreshing atmosphere, it isn’t an untouched woodland but a managed protective forest—so it’s pretty safe. Of course, it can be dangerous if you get too close to the logging areas, but if you steer clear of those, it’s practically a playground for kids.

The estate’s children often play here. Once I turned six and got permission from my parents to roam beyond the house, I too began playing here with the other kids.

What we’re playing now is a variant of hide-and-seek. Here it’s known as “Fox and Goose,” and the main rule is that the “it” fox keeps multiplying as the game goes on.

The rules are pretty loose, and changing hiding spots is totally allowed. I sensed a pack of foxes coming to search using my 《Eavesdropping》 skill—again, a low-tier skill from the Physical Arts category that never goes to waste (even if I upgraded it to 《Skilled》 for hide-and-seek)—so I decided to move using the delicate steps of my 《Silent Footsteps》, which lets me avoid crunching on leaves or twigs.

But really, this ability is so convenient. There are many traits locked behind experience or prerequisite skills, yet even in a game like this, the stealth-related professional category gets unlocked—and just by having these skills active while moving around, I’m racking up skill points pretty fast.

It was like an unexpected stroke of luck. Could it be that the rate at which I accumulate skill points varies with how seriously I play? If so, I’m definitely playing hard now, and this speed makes sense. At this pace, I’ll probably break even after a few more hours of play.

…If someone said, “A guy in his early forties getting serious over a game of hide-and-seek with kids is absurd,” I’d just have to bite my tongue. For now, I’ll tell myself it’s all just to rack up skill points. The numbers will justify my actions.

That said, if I get cocky, my purse strings might loosen even more, so I must never neglect self-control. If I foolishly splurge big time just because the points are piling up, the consequences could be scary. I’ll never go through the horror of having a ton of supplements—each costing over 3,000 yen—show up out of nowhere again.

I was starting to distance myself from the other estate kids and get my act together when, suddenly, I sensed a presence behind me. It wasn’t an ominous feeling—just the faint sound of rustling leaves.

“Gotcha!”

And that was it.

“Whoa!?”

Something leapt from behind and clung to my back, throwing off my balance as I moved in a crouch, and I ended up toppling forward. Thank goodness I’d upgraded my durability status to 《Excellent》 and my 《Falling》 skill in the Physical Arts category to 《Mastered》—that really saved me from getting hurt while playing outside.

“Hehe, Erich got you!”

Peering down at my fallen face was the sweet visage of a little girl. With her round, charming features, big hazel eyes, and an adorably plump little nose, she exuded a warm familiarity. Her name was Margit—a child from the estate who was two years older than me.

“Uh… since when…?”

“Yeah, I figured if I made any noise I’d be spotted, so I quietly searched and snuck around behind you. It’s such a pain that people can’t see what’s behind them.”

With a cheerful grin showing her teeth and her beautiful chestnut hair tied into two braids, she wasn’t exactly human. Or rather, if a little girl two years older than me pounced onto my back with such force that I nearly fell, even a proper breakfall wouldn’t have completely prevented injuries.

Without a sound, an unexpectedly heavy weight—hardly fitting for an eight-year-old—lifted off my back. And while it suited my prone position perfectly, normally a hand would have reached out from far too low a spot.

“Alright, get up, get up. Hey everyone, I’ve found Erich!!”

Her upper body was only about as tall as a child’s waist. It wasn’t that she was short—it was because her lower limbs resembled those of a spider.

Margit is an Arachne. This was the very first undeniable sign that this world is truly fantasy.

In this world, there exist three kinds of humanity: the “Human Race” like us; the “Demon Race,” imbued with an enigmatic magical essence (one can only guess at its details from the flavor text on their skills and traits); and the “Half-Breeds,” who, like her, carry elements of both the Human Race and other creatures.

In the Rhine Triple Empire, these three types are legally equal, and it’s quite common for them to live mixed together in a single estate. In fact, one of the three imperial houses is said to consist of reproducing, vampire-like beings known as the “Bloodsuckers,” so it all makes sense.

“Oops, you’re covered in leaves. Sorry, Erich. Look, you’ve even got some on your face. I’m taking them off.”

“Thanks…”

Because of that, even Margit—with her spider-like lower body—was treated as completely normal in this estate. I did have a brief moment of “Whoa!?” but once I saw that everyone accepted her, I got used to it pretty quickly.

After all, if she were ordinary, she’d be the caring big sister—even if I pretend not to notice her true age.

Well, I won’t deny that in my past life I had a fetish for non-humans, including arachnids.

However, she was a bit different from the arachnids I had imagined. The six stout, short, dark-armored lower limbs—reminding one of a hairy crab—with her two arms making eight limbs in total, were vastly different from the slender appendages typically envisioned when one hears “arachne.” And even though she was still a child, her appearance hadn’t changed much—okay?—which is utterly incongruous with normal spider biology.

It turns out she wasn’t an arachnid with long legs like a tarantula, but rather one akin to a fly-catching spider that crawls on the ground. It’s sort of like comparing white people to yellow people among our human kind.

“Aah, I just can’t beat Margit…”

“Yeah, that’s because she’s got more experience.”

“You’re only two years older, though…”

“Whatever, you half-ass who only focuses on the past.”

She puffed up her thin chest with a self-satisfied huff. At the position where her hair was tied into two braids—almost like an adornment—a black sphere gleamed as it caught the afternoon sunlight.

That wasn’t a bead decoration at all, but a fine compound eye. They say an arachnid’s hallmark is having two lens-like eyes with excellent depth perception, along with a wide, quick-reacting field of vision provided by its compound eyes. It’s a perfect trait for a fly-catching spider that crouches low, crawls on the ground, and pounces on its prey.

In hide-and-seek, a trait so overpowered that one can’t be caught unless surrounded by several people makes them natural rangers and scouts, and on top of that, excellent hunters. Not to mention, if they were also made into grapplers or fencers, they’d become an evasion shield with almost cheat-like rotational efficiency.

In fact, she comes from a family of hunters. Not only for procuring food but also for serving as the ideal species for an official tasked with keeping pests like deer from overrunning the forest.

“…Next time, you won’t be found.”

“Oh, don’t jinx it! Alright, then next time I’ll catch you first!”

Watching her smile like the sun, I immediately planned another immature splurge—maybe I’d even pick up 《Presence Detection》 next…

【Tips】: Many creatures possess powerful, species-specific traits. Also, even within the same species, racial differences can result in significant variations in appearance.

It is said that in the Rhine Triple Empire the ratio of the Human Race to the Demon Race and to the Half-Breeds is 5:1:3.

Even though there are no institutional or cultural barriers segregating the races—and diverse species exist at every hierarchy level—the fact that such a distribution occurs in the empire is simply due to how easily the Human Race proliferates.

But that doesn’t mean the Human Race is strong.

They are numerous precisely because of their excellent adaptability and ability to breed in nearly any environment, which is why the human subgroup, among whom the “Humans” form a high percentage, is so abundant.

In fact, Humans are almost the lowest among highly intelligent beings. In terms of magical power, they lag far behind the long-lived within our Human Race, and in terms of durability they’re no match for the Digger types. Naturally, even compared to Demons and Half-Breeds, few individuals can outclass them in raw specs.

That’s why, when there’s a large proportion of Human children with a few years’ difference in age, it becomes obvious that the gap widens even more for the Half-Breed children.

It’s simple logic. There’s hardly any Human who could win a race against a Centaur, or overpower a Minotaur in strength. Moreover, how many Humans could keep up in a game of hide-and-seek or tag when it’s the spider-people—known as hunters, scouts, and assassins—going all out?

Lately, Margit, the hunter’s daughter, had been troubled. Even in hide-and-seek with rules—like “don’t climb trees”—the game was becoming too challenging for her to dominate as she once did.

Spider-people, or arachnids, are generally precocious; it’s no wonder. Insect-like Half-Breeds tend to grow fast, and the shorter their lifespan, the more pronounced it is. For spider-people whose lifespan is similar to that of Humans, around this time their bodies “finish developing,” and the differences become strikingly apparent.

It’s literally a contrast between child and adult—a contrast accompanied by the brutal force of racial traits.

However, mental maturity doesn’t necessarily match physical maturity. The adults among the spider-people adapted to the Triple Empire are defined as being fifteen years old, and if raised in a culture that fits their environment, their mental growth naturally keeps pace.

Margit may have nearly perfected her form as a fly-catching spider-person, but her mind was still that of a child.

Because of that, she longed for playmates, yet no one could keep up with her favorite game of fox and goose anymore.

Either the goose would be wiped out almost immediately, or every goose except her would survive; and if they could run away for a long time, it just wasn’t fun—children would quickly get bored and resent it. Gradually, the others’ attitudes grew indifferent, and they’d frown when she joined in. Then, a boy joined our group.

His name was Erich, a typical Human child who had been allowed to take a trip, and since he was the younger brother among those already in the group, he fit right in.

He quickly grew fond of Margit. Whenever he found her, he would run over with a smile, start talking, and bring up all sorts of topics.

And above all, he was excellent at the fox and goose game.

At first, his movements were clumsy and unremarkable, typical of a young child, but one day he suddenly became quite adept. He moved swiftly, disappearing so cleverly—like a heat haze—that no one could tell when he had hidden. And once he disappeared, he had a notoriously nasty skill that made him extremely hard to track.

When playing as the fox, he could capture someone before they even noticed, and when playing as the goose, he could keep evading capture indefinitely.

Moreover, he was smart.

He even gave the other children a way to defeat someone like him.

By splitting into small groups to close in, any goose would eventually be caught—a strategy that could even take care of Margit properly.

With this new tactic and strategy, Margit managed to regain her place among the group. After all, she was the only one capable of taking down an extraordinarily strong boy single-handedly.

That’s why Margit had grown so fond of him.

She loved his smooth, golden hair. She adored his kitten-blue eyes, which sometimes hinted at the maturity of an adult, and his delicate, slender face. She loved his calm, clear way of speaking that was unusually mature for a child, and she adored his body, which radiated the high body temperature characteristic of Humans.

More than anything, she loved that he never excluded her.

So, she would latch onto him and pull him down—just him, and no one else.

Unconsciously, because it felt so good.

Without even knowing it, this was the inherent trait and fetish of the spider-people—a race where females hold an advantage over males.

And today, true to her instinct, she pounced on him once again.

Without ever understanding the true nature of her actions…